Resurrecting Chaos : Define Fear
by Kouun no Megami
Summary: If you haven't seen my summary here yet, then I guess you'll have to read it to figure it out. 5 reviews? Come on, guys! This is pathetic... it's not THAT bad. Ch. 4 added! Rei ponders the changes in Kai as the group does voluteer work at the carnival.
1. Prologue

**disclaimer:** I own nothing!

**A/N: **A little R&R would be nice. **5** reviews **at least** before you get the next installment. **Resurrecting Chaos** is to be a series...prolly a Trilogy. So plan to be in it for the long haul. As long as I have at least **one** reader, I suppose I won't discontinue it. ^-^

**Resurrecting Chaos :** **_Define Fear_**

**fear:** _noun _; **1**. **a**. Alarm and agitation caused by an expectation or realization of danger. **b**. An example of this feeling.** 2**. Reverence: awe. **3**. A state of dread or apprehension _living_ _in fear_ -_verb _; **1**. To be frightened (of). **2**. To be apprehensive (about). **3**. To be in awe of: revere _fear God_ **4**. To suspect _I fear you are mistaken._

_I think someone needs to rewrite the dictionary._

**_-excerpt from the journal of Max Mizuhara; dated June 16, 20##_**

**((prologue begin))**

Slightly disoriented, the young boy strode slowly down the dimly lit stone hallway. His feet seemed to know his destination even though he himself did not. The youth thought he should be frightened, but recognized his current state as being bold, confident, and oddly a bit arrogant.

The corridor ended abruptly, branching in two opposite directions. Without hesitation, the boy went left. This passage was just as dark as the first, and, also like the one before it, contained no windows. Unlike the previous hallway, however, this one was lined with many doors. Heavy wooden doors. Closed doors. The doors displayed labels that, try as he might, the boy could not read. (Either blurred or perhaps written in a different language?) He wanted to stop and examine them more closely, but his legs drug him forward at a steady pace. There was a shout from behind one of the doors. A familiar voice. A flash of blue light seeped from beneath the door, flooding the hall momentarily before disappearing, followed by another joyful shout.....So familiar.

The boy kept walking.

Thirty-three doors later, he stopped on a dime, turning to face one of those heavy wooden doors. He felt a burst of curious wonder. _Why this door?_ It looked no different from any of the others.

The boy watched with intense interest as his hand rose to the large, rusty metal plate mounted upon the door's surface. _What am I doing? There's no way I can possibly move..._

At his touch the door slowly began opening inward, being pushed an invisible force. An invisible strength.

Wondering why he wasn't surprised, the boy stepped through the doorway and walked a few paces into an enormous room. The door closed heavily after him.

The room was completely dark, save the four blazing torches at the far end. They surrounded an altar raised by three steps. Behind the altar were five elevated cement slabs, painted a fiery crimson. Other than these things, the room was empty.

The youth slowly approached the altar. Upon reaching the altar and ascending to the second step, a voice called out to him.

"With purest 'life' must the threshold be crossed." The voice was dark and sinister and sent a shiver down the boy's spine, but still he felt no fear. He climbed the remaining stair.

He looked down to see a gleaming dagger. The light of the torches' flames flickered, reflecting off of the gleaming blade and sending shadows to dance in ghastly patterns across the boy's face.

He reached for the dagger and tried to jerk his hand back reflexively as the blade sliced his palm, not understanding how his aim could have been that far off. However, his hand seemed to have other plans and placed itself upon the altar as if in ritual.

In an instant, the torches' flames fell into a swoon and then a mad dance, threatening to flee from their posts. A powerful wind seemed to surround the boy, attempting to drive him down---but failing.

And then, just as suddenly as it had began---it stopped.

"Diligence, Courage, Mildness, Honor, and Innocence. Each one represented, each one raped, each one conquered. "Mars" will be resurrected. Fight fire with fire. Trust the tortoise. Beware the phoenix. All will be reversed. Chaos will reign." The voice boomed once again, louder this time. "The prophecy has been revealed. Doth thee, demon, accept?"

"Yes. Thou be bound to this demon and scrawl this demon's promise in my own life, my own blood." answered the boy, this time surprised by the coldness of his own voice.

"Then awaken, demon."

**_______________________________**

"Max!.......Max. MAX! Wake up, Max!" Max was shaken awake by a groggy Kai.

"Wha?"

"You were talking in your sleep." Max looked confused as Kai reflected something like concern.

"Was I?"

"Yeah....So stop it! I can't sleep with all that noise!" Kai rolled over and slammed his head into the pillow. Rei tossed fitfully in response.

"Two egg rolls with the mixu soup, please..." he grumbled into the sheets twisted around him. Kai sighed.

"Naturally, I get to sleep with the chatty-de-la-noche twins. Never gonna get any sleep."

A few minutes later, Kai's breathing became rhythmic. Max stared up through the darkness at the ceiling. He shivered as he recalled his nightmare, suddenly very glad of his secure and warm sleeping position between the two older boys.

But his hand hurt.

**((end prologue))**


	2. Coffee, Confusion, and Carnivals Oh My!

**disclaimer: **I still own nothing!

**A/N:** I'm not particularly satisfied with this chapter, but it'll do I suppose. I hope my muse gets a little more energetic in chapter 2. (Not to mention more frequently present. o.0) I hope chapter 2 won't take as long in the works as this one did, but.... *shrugs* what can you do? Try and enjoy. -,- It'll get better...or at least.... I'm pretty sure it will anyway.

****

**Resurrecting Chaos : **_Define Fear_

**Chapter 1 --** _Coffee, Confusion, and Carnivals; Oh my!_

Tyson yawned painfully as he kicked the refrigerator door closed and turned to add mil to his Econo-size box of Piccolo-O's. ("Turns your milk green!") He smiled and yawned again upon seeing his cheerful team mate Max Mizuhara sitting at the small table in the center of the tiny breakfast nook. The chipper blond smiled back and held out a bowl. Tyson shrugged and nodded, pouring a bit of milk into the out-thrusted container. Max promptly began happily munching away of his Sugar Smacks. ("For that extra-speckal 'get-up-and-go' that can prove harmful to the public's safety!") The smacking boy mouthed the words 'thank you' and several sugary, soggy morsels trailed down his chin. He wiped then away quickly and continued eating.

Tyson grinned again and poured his own share of essential dairy product into the cereal box's plastic lining. Upon tilting the jog back up, however, he found there to be only a few drops remaining. The boy simply shrugged and yawned again and turned to place it back in the fridge anyway.

"SWEET MOTHER OF EVERYTHING CORNY!"

Tyson found himself nose-to-nose with team captain Kai Hiwatari.

"You're not putting that back in there like that, are you?" inquired the two-toned haired boy calmly, glaring at his reddening team mate. "'Cause it kindly pisses Rei and me off when you do that. Rei because, well, you know how a neko-jin is about his milk and me because... well because getting pissed of at you is just kind of a hobby of mine, I guess." Tyson didn't seem to be listening to Kai's witty comments, however.

"Dammit, Kai! What are you, like... a friggen' ninja in your spare time or something!? You scared the bejeezus outta me!" Kai sniffed and appeared to be thinking this over.

"Good," he replied finally, gliding around the startled boy and pouring himself a cup of coffee. He took a seat at the table next to Max. "You could stand to lose a bit of your 'bejeezus.' A whole box of cereal? Honestly. Uh no thanks, Max." Kai made a face at the spoon full of sugar the Japanese-American boy next to him offered. Max shrugged and mumbled something ("Uhphmkay, soot chorselv!") before returning to his breakfast.

Next entered the raven-haired neko-jin, binding his wet locks as he sat on Max's other side. He eyed the mug in Kai's hand wearily. "Coffee stunts your growth , you know, Kai?" Kai sipped strongly at the cup's contents and raised to Rei a middle-fingered salute. Rei sighed.

"It's my 'growth. I'll do what I want with it," replied the stoic teen.

"I don't like coffee unless it has lots of sugar." Max seemed to have finished his cereal. He stood up and moved to the sink. "Otherwise it tastes like mud." Kai's mind found it rather amusing that Max knew what mud tasted like, but kept his thoughts to himself. He drank a bit more of his coffee.

"What's wrong with your hand, Max?"

"Hmm?" Max raised a brow at Rei's sudden observation.

"Your hand. Why are you holding it like that?" Max blushed slightly as Tyson and Kai also turned their attention to his hand, which he had been cradling reflexively to his chest since he had awoken that morning.

"I, uh.... I dunno," shrugged the daffodil blond curiously. "It kinda hurts, I mean. I must have slept on it wrong last night or something."

"Hmm," nodded Rei absently, furrowing his brow as if he accepted the answer but didn't find it likely. The neko-jin finished binding his hair and stood, crossing the nook to the refrigerator, which Max opened for him on his way back to the table. "Ari." mumbled Rei in appreciation and the boy grinned back happily.

"Hai," he replied and returned to his seat next to Kai, who still seemed focused on the pup's injured appendage. Max must have noticed this because he flexed his arm and waved the suddenly popular part of his anatomy. "T's all right, Kai-san?" Kai's gaze jumped to the pup's face which was bright with a closed-eyed smile.

"Hn," grunted the captain. Tyson, however, had more to say.

"Now wait a sec. Maxy, I have to comment here on your 'Kai-titling.' It gives him a big head, you see. Especially in prolonged exposure to that, that... tiny display of respect. And well.... I'm sure you get what I'm getting at..."

Kai and Max stared unblinkingly at the blue-haired boy. Tyson turned to Rei. "I don't think they heard me, Rei." Rei gave Tyson a look of disbelief.

"Tyson, I was standing right beside you and I'm not sure _I_ heard you," he mused highly. Tyson sighed as Kai chuckled and Max giggled.

"What I meant was, if you call him 'sir' and address him all 'respectfully," he did the quotes as he spoke, "then he expects the rest of us to do that too!" Kai raised a brow.

"What's wrong with being respectful? I _am_ your elder and I _am_ your team captain." The phoenix set down his coffee mug heavily, (--thunclink!) folded his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes. Tyson sighed again wearily.

"Oh boy. You see, Maxy? Do you see!?"

"I know, Tyson. But I don't feel comfortable talking to Kai-san as a peer." Max looked down at the table's surface.

"It's all right, Maxy. Tyson shouldn't either." Kai smirked. Tyson blew a raspberry at the older boy and Max surpressed a giggle. Kai pointed sternly at the pony-tailed teen wagging his tongue in the air. "Don't forget who's paying for this lovely little hotel suite!" Tyson sneered and laughed sarcastically at this.

"A suite? Yeah!? You'd think we wouldn't have had to share beds in a suite! Why couldn't your money get us separate beds!? Or do you fancy sleeping in the same bed as Maxy and Rei? Afraid of the dark or summat, Kai!?" 

Kai flushed furiously and opened his mouth to reply, but Kenny, the Bladebreakers' own personal computer wizard, ran into the room in a rising panic and the developing verbal confrontation was avoided and forgotten as Tyson's attention quickly shifted.

"What's up, Chief?"

"The carnival! I completely forgot about the BBA Carnival!" cried the small boy, wringing his fluffy brown hair.

"A carnival sponsored by the BBA? Cool, Chief, when?" Tyson conversed, finally taking the first bite of his cereal. ("Ech! It's mushy!")

"In 10 minutes!"

"Sweet! Can we go?"

"Can we? We were supposed to be there an hour ago!"

"Supposed to be?" Tyson spit milk and mush all over the counter. "Whataya mean?"

"Mr. Dickenson said the BBA was looking for some pro-beyblading teams to help with the carnival. Sort of like a 'Meet-A-Celebrity' thrill for the public and amateur bladers."

"And you volunteered us?"

"Uh.... yeah."

"And when did you plan on telling us about this?" inquired Kai. Kenny just stared blankly at the boy speaking as though he were doing so in some uncomprehendable lauguage.

"Well, I thought that my reason for not telling you would have been obvious."

"Howsat?"

"You wouldn't have agreed to it even if we were getting paid."

"We aren't getting paid?!" Tyson spat out more mush.

"Well, of course not. That's why it's called 'volunteering." The room was suddenly quiet, with the exception of Tyson's choking sounds. "But anyway! We don't have time to stand around and discuss it any further! We were supposed to be there an hour ago!" Kenny clapped his hands three times rapidly. "C'mon! Let's go!"

"Why didn't you get us up earlier, then! Not I don't have time to finish my breakfast!" whined Tyson.

"I would have! But _someone_ turned off my alarm!" Kenny glared.

"Oh. My bad." Tyson blushed. "I couldn't sleep with all that racket."

"That's the point, you dolt!" Kenny groaned. "Just... just get ready. I've already called Mr. Dickenson to tell him we're on our way." With that, the brunette turned on his heels and strode out.

"Kenny seems.... irate." Max reasoned.

"Yeah, well give him some time to wake up. He'll warm up to us." The remaining boys performed a group sigh and Kai, Max, and Tyson (putting down his box of soggy substance) followed their stategist's lead.

Rei watched them go and reached down to fasten a tie on his clothes that had escaped him earlier after his shower. "Speaking of noticing things and warming up to others..." Rei wondered briefly if he was the only one who had taken note of Kai referring to Max as 'Maxy,' an affectionate nickname for the spunky blond that Tyson had set in motion and all the other Bladebreakers (with an exception of Kai) had adopted. Rei smiled to himself, finding it amusing and rather uplifting that Kai might be finally allowing himself to become a part of the team.

The neko-jin looked down in mild irritation at the milk jug he had been holding in his other hand for quite some time now before shrugging, drinking the last bit, discarding the container, and walking after the rest of his team to get ready for the carnival. 


	3. Nightmare Interlude 1

**disclaimer: **I still still own nothing! And the definition is a joint effort of _Webster's 2nd New Riverside Dictionary_ and_ dictionary.reference.com_.

**A/N:** Okay, it's exxxtttremely short... and not that great... but it's here... I'm deeply sorry it took so long to write chapter 2. The truth is, it didn't take long to write the CHAPTER, it took long to get back to writing the FIC. What with college breathing down my neck and all... It was the latest review that drug me off my behind and got me to looking for my notes. And it was hellacious searching, but guess what.... I FOUND THEM! And so I hope to sit here and write nearly nonstop until I get to at least the last part written in my notes. (Which is quite a few chappies away.) You see, some of the latter parts of the fic have already been written because I'm a rebel and can't be forced to follow the rules of logic and write things chronologically. That would be logical... and I'm very much an illogical person. YOU! *points at the reader* ENJOY MY NOT-LOGICNESS!

.....as well as the following chapter. ^^

**Resurrecting Chaos : **_Define Fear_

**Chapter 2 --** _The Nightmares Begin_

**night·mare:** _noun _; **1**. A dream causing fear, horror, or distress.** 2**. A highly distressing or frightening experience.

**3**. A demon or spirit once thought to plague sleeping people. **4.** A condition in sleep usually caused by improper

eating or by digestive or nervous troubles, and characterized by a sense of extreme uneasiness or discomfort (as

of weight on the chest or stomach, impossibility of motion or speech, etc.), or by frightful or oppressive dreams,

from which one wakes after extreme anxiety, in a troubled state of mind; incubus.

**word history:** In Old and middle English, _mare_ was a word denoting an evil spirit. Although the spirit was imagined to be female, the word _mare_ is unrelated to the modern word _mare_ meaning "female horse." Nightmare is a compound of the word _night_ and the old _word_ mare; it denoted an evil spirit thought to afflict sleeping persons by sitting on them and causing a feeling of suffocation. _Nightmare_ was also used to denote both the feeling itself and the dream that produced it.

_I think the dictionary would be more helpful if it were illustrated._

**_-excerpt from the journal of Max Mizuhara; dated June 19, 20##_**

::nightmare # 1::

The only sound reaching his ear was the familiar thud of his feet on the stone floor as he walked down the corridor. The boy was back in the hall again. All the doors... still there. Their signs still unreadable. He reached the branch and turned left. _Am I going back to that room? The room with the voice?_

He found himself stopping abruptly and he began carefully examining each door within eyesight. He was looking for something. Something... no someone. Someone specific. But all the doors are the same. _How am I supposed to know which one...._ His eyes settled on a door to his right. The blurriness of the writing on the door's label became more intense and the boy felt his eye's twitch, struggling to adjust. Slowly, the writing returned to normal. Normal... that writing was NOT normal. Various slashes, boxes, symbols... thrown together. _They're runes or something. Some foreign language. Probably a dead forgotten language. Something like..._ The boy blinked hard. **Courage**. He could read it! He didn't know how, but the squiggles and squares suddenly made sense.

_Courage... that's what is in that room?_ There was a flash of blue light, a familiar shout. _I remember this room._

The boy placed one hand on the door and winced. He pulled his hand away and held it before his face. The cut... the cut from the room with the voice. But there wasn't a pink scar there. Not a red scab. It wasn't closed. The cut was very much open... but not bleeding. The boy tried to feel horrified at the black, empty rut he saw in his hand, but calm was all he seemed to know. He placed his sliced hand upon the door again, and there was pain, but he could not acknowledge it. Instead he pushed the door open with the same invinsible strength he had used to open the voice room's door. He walked inside and felt something resembling both joy and disappointment. The boy mentally raised an eyebrow at the disappointment. He had never been disappointed to see him before. Him. And he stood there, in his triumphant stance, with the blue dragon glowing white all around him.

The boy gazed at his friend in wonder and felt himself smirk. Smirk. Completely uncharacteristic of him. A sly smirk formed on his mouth.

His friend smiled at him and gave a thumbs-up. "I'll beat them all. I'm not afraid," The blue-haired boy said. "I'll never back down! You just stay with me and together, we'll show everyone out there that we aren't to be messed with!" And a foreign emotion entered the boy's body as his friend spoke. He felt something inside of himself cry out as he sneered and that cold voice hissed frost into the air.

"I hate you."

The smile disappeared from his friend's face and was replaced by a look of terror. The boy watched as the dragon slowly faded away.

"Please don't hurt me...."

The boy turned to look behind himself. "What? Who's gonna hurt you, Tyson?" _What's he afraid of? Tyson's never scared. Tyson is the bravest guy I know._ The boy made a move toward his friend and felt a sudden pressure in his chest as his friend tripped over his own feet trying to run from whatever he was afraid of. "Tyson?"

"Please don't hurt me... Maxy." 


	4. Kai under the Microscope

**disclaimer: **I still still still own nothing!

**A/N:** I actually like how this chapter ended. However, I'm not to thrilled with the beginning. I'm trying to make up for all those missed months. But the hurrier I go the behinder I get! Some sloppy writing maybe, cause I'm going so fast, but maybe I'll have time to make adjustments later. For now, you'll get the basic idea.

**Resurrecting Chaos : **_Define Fear_

**Chapter 3--** _Kai Under the Microscope_

or

_An Infection Called Maxy_

Max felt a finger prod his side and felt his reality slip. The scene before him blurred and vanished and he was suddenly surrounded by darkness. A friendly voice speaking from within the blackness.

"Hey, Maxy. Yo, Max, we're here." Max opened his eyes and a small amount of confusion enveloped him. He gazed around and found the voice's owner. He felt a click and everything flooded back to him. In the van, riding to the carnival. He looked out the van window watching the brightly colored tents and rides go by before turning and smiling sleepily at his excited friend.

"All right, Tyson, you lead the way!"

"You gonna ride the rollercoaster with me til I barf, right, Maxy!?"

Max made a playful grossed-out face. "I'll ride with you, Tyson, but not if you're gonna throw-up on me." He laughed. Kai smirked when he heard this and jumped at the opportunity.

"Yeah. After you 'browse' the food court, Tyson, Max would prolly come off the rollercoaster looking like a caramel apple himself, sticky and brown. That or a movie theatre floor." The van slowed to a stop as it found its parking space near a blue and red striped tent.

Rei, sitting next to Kai in the van's back row, made a face. "Kai, do you have to be so graphic?"

Kai stared blankly at the neko-jin. "Yes," he replied simply. Rei stared back at the team captain, apparently waiting for him to expound, however he gave up after Kai's attention turned back to Tyson who had thrown open the door with relish. The loner teen kept a serious face as he placed one foot on the back of Tyson's seat. Rei watched in horrified amusement as Kai kicked out sharply, ejecting the pony-tailed boy from the van and into a pile of hay stacked messily between the tent and van. Max laughed in good nature before getting out of the van to help his friend locate his ball cap and pick the hay out of his hair.

Rei scowled at Kai. "Kai, that wasn't very nice!" Kai gazed at the raven-haired boy for a moment before pushing the seat in front of him over with his foot. He began to climb from the van.

"Enough with the act, Rei," he smirked as he spoke. "You thought it was funny, too." Rei watched his leader disembark with wide-eyes. Kai turned back to face him once he was outside. "You coming?" He made a gesture with his hand and then added, "It's all in good fun, Rei." Rei started as he watched a genuine smile replace Kai's smirk. "Tyson knows that." Rei felt himself return the smile and he began to exit the vehicle.

Once he had found his hat and had placed it back in its rightful place, Tyson stood, stretched his arms wide, and took a deep breath, inhaling the carnival air. The breeze carried delicious aromas of hotdogs and hamburgers as well as the sticky-sweet scents of candied apples and cotten candy. Tyson felt his mouth begin to water at the thought of all the food carnivals specialized in, such as the funnel cakes and the SFG, or 'Stick Food Group,' as he liked to call it.

The SFG was large and unlimited to creativity. Chicken on a stick, sausage on a stick, deer on a stick, corn on a stick, alligator on a stick, apples on a stick. The list went on and on. Anything could be put on a stick and made special by a carnival's food court.

"Maxy, c'mon, I'll buy you the biggest wad of cotton candy you never thought existed! We'll eat sweet stuff until we..." There was a tug on the salivating boy's shirt and he looked down to see a small boy smiling up at him. He had a gap between his front teeth. Tyson wiped the drool from his chin and eyed the boy curiously.

"Are you really THE Tyson Kinomiya?" The young boy clutched his beyblade to his chest in blind facination and Tyson closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture of pride.

"The one and only." Max watched as stars developed in the child's eyes and smiled. He felt that no one deserved to be a hero more than Tyson. The boy handed his blade and a pen to Tyson.

"Do you think you could... you know..." The boy's face reddened. Tyson's took the offered items and looked at each one in turn before turning his attention back to the child and smiling widely.

"You want my autograph, kid?"

The child shook his head. "No, I was hoping you could get me Hiwatari-sama's!" Max's jaw dropped and he fell backwards into another pile of hay.

"Shut-up, Max," Tyson fumed at his friend laughing hysterically on the ground. "I'ma tell everyone you snort when you laugh."

**_______________________________________**

"That's got to be like... the 50th blade I've signed since we got here three hours ago," Tyson sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Kai raised an azure eyebrow.

"Really? Only fifty? I could have sworn I'd signed at least 148 by now," The phoenix flashed a toothy smile as the dragon 's face turned red. Tyson sputtered, looking for a comeback.

Kenny suddenly appeared, happily munching on a corndog (also on a stick.) "Hey, Chief, no fair! Eating in front of us like that!" Tyson whined at the injustice of it all, forgetting about Kai's comment.

Kenny waved the half-eaten treat at the Bladebreakers. "That's what I've come to tell you. Another team has come in for a shift. You guys can go have some lunch."

At that, Tyson jumped to his feet. "You really mean it, Chief! ALL RIGHT! Let's go, Max!" Tyson quickly took a firm hold on Max's wrist and dashed for the tent opening.

"BUT WAIT!" Tyson tripped over his feet and almost smashed into another pile of hay... but missed. Max smiled down at his comrade.

"You okay, Tyson?"

"Sure... this rock broke my fall... *cough*"

"Don't get too caught up in festivities," Kenny warned, sitting at the table holding his laptop.

"That's right boys, you've still got work to do," spoke the computer.

Tyson brushed the dust from his jacket and made a face. "WHADAYA MEAN!?"

"Dizzi is refering to the fact that the team that was supposed to take the shift after the shift after us, can't make it." Tyson stared at Kenny.

"Wha?"

"He means he volunteered us for another shift." Rei sighed.

"WHAT!?" Tyson stomped a foot. "I can't believe this! There's a great carnival out there and we're gonna miss it!"

"Relax," Kenny replied, straining to remain calm in the wake of Tyson's whining. "You'll have plenty of time to enjoy the carnival after your next shift." Tyson sighed.

"All right... BUT YOU OWE ME SOMETHING ON A STICK!"

**_______________________________________**

Tyson and Max made their way through the crowds of people, clutching their lunches protectively. "Min, fwee foo, ha-wow coo wis thith!?" Tyson mused as best he could with a bag of peanuts held firming between his teeth. His arms were filled with as many edible delights as he could manage to hold. Max grinned brightly at his friend. "Sis carnival ii lie tha bess thin thassever happen tah me." Max laughed.

"Hey!" Max pointed to a grassy spot near a pond where several couples were paddling boats around, the sun shining brightly above. It might have been quite hot out if it hadn't been so breezy. "Let's eat there! That looks like a good spot!" Tyson followed Max's finger and nodded.

"Yo gah ihat, Mathy."

The two bladers strode over to the decided spot, sat down, and began spreading out their own personal smorgasbords. They began to munch away quietly, watching the boaters. Tyson looked over at the typically talkative Max and was surprised to see him with a worried, pensive look as he ate a hotdog.

"Yo, Maxy. Something wrong, bud?"

Max snapped out of his reverie and blinked at Tyson as though he had never seen him before. A minute later, he set his half-eaten dog down on a napkin and stared at the ground. Quiet for several minutes before speaking. "Tyson, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, Maxy." Tyson smiled, but when Max didn't return it he grew concerned. "What's up, Max?"

"Well, it's... you have to really think about it before answering, okay? You can't just answer as soon as I ask, okay? And you can't tell the guys, okay?"

"Sure, Maxy. Shoot."

"Well... okay..."

**_______________________________________**

Kai and Rei wondered up and down the rows of food stands. "Wow... this is like... Tyson's heaven, isn't it, Kai?" Kai raised a brow at the question.

"Are you kidding? Free food at a place that has just about anything you can imagine? We'll have to rent another van just to drive Tyson back to the hotel." Rei felt slightly impolite, but chuckled at the comment anyway. Tyson would have taken it in stride. It had taken everyone a while, but they had come to realize that Kai never meant it when he said mean things. However, maybe in the beginning he had been being truthful. Rei pushed that gladly from his mind. Maybe Kai hadn't cared to associate with the rest of the team when it was first created, but things change. Times change. People change. Kai changed.

He began to turn to Kenny for information more, seeming to accept the fact that the youngest boy had quite a spectacular mind. Kenny had taken to this like a duck to water, revealing that he like the attention and credit that Kai was finally giving him and was happy that he could finally be useful to the older boy. And Kai appeared to enjoy discussing strategies over cups of coffee (Kenny would have hot chocolate.)

Kai had began giving Tyson seemingly nonchalant pointers instead of hurting the stubborn boy's pride with stinging accusations of shortcomings in his tactics. Tyson didn't seem to notice he was actually getting advice from his rival and let Kai contribute gladly. Whenever Tyson would become suspicious of one of Kai's suggestions, Kai would slyly reply, "Well, I knew you wouldn't be able to do it..." and of course Tyson wouldn't stop until he proved Kai wrong. It had become thoroughly amusing to watch Kai's mind games. Particularly since Kai would actually let Tyson believe he had won, his only goal being to better Tyson's skills. The bitter rivalry had turned to a friendly one. Kai had finally seen the potential lying within the navy-haired youth and had decided he couldn't stand back and let it go to waste. There was too much stuff he could teach the boy. And too much stuff lying beyond those things to postpone the teaching. Tyson would surpass Kai. Most definitely. It couldn't be helped. But Kai wanted to have a hand in it somewhere. To show his acceptance. And Tyson enjoyed the intense but now friendly challenges he received from Kai, happy that the older boy had accepted him as a challenge. Though he'd never admit it, Tyson looked up to Kai "The Phoenix" Hiwatari just as all of the other BladeBreakers did. Tyson had even slipped and called Kai 'senpai' once.

Kai had always avoided Max when possible. The young blonde had made multiple attempts to make friends with Kai. To talk to him. Blade with him. Simply smile at him. Kai wanted no part. No matter how rude Kai would find himself being to the boy, Max would just shrug it off and continue smiling. Kai wanted to ignore Max. But Max wouldn't let himself be ignored. Even though Kai wouldn't appear to be listening, Max would always go to Kai with worries or fears. There were few of these for Max, sure, but he always turned to Kai. Carrying on a seemingly one-sided conversation until Max would come to his own conclusion. Of course, Max would always give the older boy credit, even though he hadn't really done anything. "I don't think I'd ever get through any of this stuff without your help, Kai-san!" Max would laugh sincerely. There wasn't a gradual process of change in Kai and Max's relationship. It had just suddenly changed, though Max didn't seem to think there was anything different than before. Somewhere along the way, Kai had taken comfort in the fact that someone needed him. Or at least seemed to think they did. And Kai had begun discussing Max's worries with him for real. Kai's feelings toward the pup radiated from the seemingly loner teen. Perhaps that was why, as long as Kai was around, no one messed with Max. No one was quite sure of the consequenses. But they knew that there WOULD be some.

Rei had often found Kai's lack of compassion disconcerting. Though he would help with chores or other things, he always seemed to do them out of duty rather than simply because it was moral or polite. Kai always avoided any type of emotional interaction if it could be helped. And Rei, being an emotional guy, couldn't help but feel cold around his captain. He was constantly being drawn into disputes or confrontations with Tyson, even after he had stopped treating Kenny like an idiot, Max like a leper, and Rei like a hinderance. But Rei remembered blushing intensely and feeling rather light-headed when Kai pulled him aside one night and apologized. "Don't let my arguments with Tyson hurt your feelings, Rei," the phoenix had said. "We're not being serious. Not any more." Rei had felt a warmth then that he only felt around Max.

Rei could never explain why he put so much more emotional energy into his relationship with Max. Perhaps it had been because Rei had always been drawn to people with affection toward his or her fellow man. And Rei was sure no one in the world could be more open and affectionate toward others than Max Mizuhara. His aura glowed as bright as a thousand suns and Rei had picked up on that the first time he was in the same beystadium as Max. Though at the time, he hadn't known where or whom exactly the energy had been coming from, Rei had nonetheless been moved by its intensity. At that time, Rei had felt other extreme energies. The strong, stubborn energy of a hero Rei traced quickly to Tyson. The steady, noble energy of a loyal cohort resonated in waves from Kenny. And the faultering, chilly energy of a lost soul, the exact opposite of Max's energy, but just as intense, flowed from Kai like a fevery illness.

But that had changed. And at first, Rei wasn't sure why. But when he looked at the rest of the team, he saw it. Kai's aura wasn't the only one that had changed. And knew that he should have figured out easily to begin with.

It was Max.

Rei compared his theory to the yawn contagion belief. If someone sees another person yawn, then they themself can't help but do so as well. And if another person sees the second yawning person yawn, they will too feel the urge to yawn. And the chain would continue as long as there was another person to witness the yawn.

Rei had also heard that if a happy person were to walk by a sad person and smile at him or her, then the sad person would smile back reflexively, perhaps brightening their day a little as well. Then that person might smile at another, then that person at another, and so on and so on. Not long after Rei thought of this, he discovered that he even felt sluggish and a bit depressed when Max wasn't around. That's when Rei came to a conclusion. Happiness and cheer were contagious. And that, if exposed to the two long enough, one might take on the feelings him or herself.

Maxy had rubbed off on all of them. And no one showed it more than Kai Hiwatari.

Things had changed. The 5 of them had become an odd sort of... of... well, family, for lack of a better word. Rei didn't see THAT changing. Not anytime soon anyway. At least he didn't think so. Though there was a mysterious layer of uneasiness beneath all of Rei's positive thoughts. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. THUNK!

Rei was startled from his thoughts as he walked right into Kai's back. He looked up in surprise, not even having realized that he had fallen behind the slightly older boy.

"What's the matter, Kai?"

"Did you see that gynumbis wad of gum I just walked though?" The slate-haired boy sweatdropped. 


End file.
